Supporting means for lighting fixtures



March 27, 1928. 1,663,655

0. D. GUTH SUPPORTING MEANS FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES Filed Ju1y15, 1925 16 20 WWW EEHWCCHGNUEGHCW Z2 I7 qmmtmmmmmf;

L (171mm 51ml INVENTOR BY +flm ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 27, 1928 nuns was

OSCAR DQGU TI orsr. LOUIS, ivrrssounr, ASSIGNOR TO THE EDWIN a; corn COMPANY,

on ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A conroanrron or mrssonnr. l 4

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR LIGHTING 'FTXTURESQ Application filed July 15, 1925. Serial No. 43,736.

My inventionrelates to the art of illumination, and particularly to means for supporting lighting fixtures, andhas for its object to provide adjustable means which a 6 will also be adaptable for various assemblageof parts for the purpose of providing such an assembly as will be adapted to meet practically any condition which: exists with relation to the outlet box or the length of 10 the canopy of the fixture to be installed.

A further object is to provide such a lighting support as will beadapted for seating boxes are more or less standard, there-are types which are known as deep boxes and ,types that are known as shallow boxes, and

.20 others known as cable boxes which are ex-v posed beyond the finished plaster. It isto meet the conditions brought about-by these, varying depthsfof. outlet boxes that de-" vice has been produced, and this constitutes .25 one of the principal objects of my invention. In connection with the above, it is my pur-' pose to provide such a support that it-can be utilizedfor the purpose ofreceiving and securing canopies of various lengths.

A further object is. to provide "means whereby in the assemblageof the parts, the socket Will be anchored against turning, so that in pull sockets the chain may be positioned as desired and itwill remain fixed ,in

that position. 7

"My invention consists of certain details of construction inwhich i Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in vertical} numeral 23 and this is provided with key-. liole slots 24 and 25 to'receive the setscrews .1 1 6 and 17 respectively, the enlarged portion 7 section to show the interior construction;

.Figs. 2, 3 and 1 are detail views ofthe:

construction of my device; I i I j Fig. 5 isa .view of the, details of constructionof a modified form."

an outlet box provided with the, usual screwthreaded stud 11. .in all outlet boxes. The numeral 12 indicates a bridge which I employ,rhavijng its ends 13 and 14 offset from the main body portion, as shown, and I provide a screwthreaded orificein the center, of the bridge and on each end thereof, as shown. The numeral 15 indicates a hickey :strap, Ll

' 5 shaped in conformation, provided on one These studs are common bridge end engage the screw-threaded orifice in the hickey strap. V V While I have referred to the central orifice.

, in the bridge b eing'scre'wthreadedto receive screw 18,;my device willfunctio'n equally as well by omittlngfthe screw threads injthis orifice and permitting the screw '18'to' pass through this strap and: engage the screwthreaded orifice in the hickey where it may be drawn to its seat, holding the strap firmly in position onthe junction box. I

l The bridge 15 is made with its central portion (in which the; central orifice is formed) formedfor whatisknown as a knock-out, as is shown at'l9. This means that thecentral portion of the bridge has Y been punched so'that a circular section is I supported by a verythin metal connection with the main bridge and that this piece may be knocked out easily by aItap with a hammer.

' Thej s ocket22 which I employ is formed with a pair'of longitudinal grooves 20 and 21, in which the screws lfian'd 17 are designed to pass, the positioning of these .90

of the said slots-being designed to permit l j p I v 1 the heads of the screws to vpasstherethrough Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, the reference numeral 10 is used to indicate.

and smaller portion, of theslots being'designed to receive the shafts of-theset-screws 100 when the canopy is turned slightly.

The numeral 26, indicates a threaded, collar ofinsulating materialwhich is designed to engage the screw thr eaded end of the socket and secure itwithin the canopy base, 1 said collar having also screw threads formed onv its forward portion to receive the screwthreaded collar- 27. l The numeral 28 indicates a glass shade I employ. 'In practical operation, where it is 119 desired to mount a fixture having a canopy provided with the keyhole slots 24 and 25, the iron bridge is secured to the junction box through .the medium .of the hickey strap being mounted to the .stud on the junction box and the screw 18 passing through the orifice in the bridge and into it s receiving orifice in the hickey strap and drawn firmly to its seat. The bridge ends thus overlie the sides of the junction box, or rather rest upon the sides thereof. The canopy securing screws 16 and 17 are then adjusted to the desired length in the bridge andt'he canopy 23 inserted in them, the heads of the screws 16 and 17 coming through the enlarged portions of the slots 24 and .25, respectively. The canopy is then rotated slightly until the shafts of the screws have entered the smaller portions of the keyhole slots. The screws 16 and 17 are then rotateduntil they firmly hold the canopy to .the junction box.

' A socket 22 has, obviously, first been placed in position within-the canopy and the screws 16 and I7 have engaged their respective'grooves .20 and 21, and lie therein, thus holding the socket against rotation. As stated, the end of this socket projects beyond the canopy :and the threaded collar 26 is positioned thereon. The glass shade then is inserted over screw-threaded collar 26, and the second screw-threaded collar '27, which is placed inside the glass shadeengages the screw-threaded collar 26 and is rotated to its seat, thus holding the glass in the shade firmly in position. The glass shade is formed with a lip to extend .over the set-screws 16 and 17, thus effectually concealing all of the securing parts.

'To demonstrate the different assemblage of the parts, in order to accommodate this support to canopies'of various lengths, it will be noted that the bridge may be turned completely around so thatthe ends of the bridge instead of resting against the sides of the junction box will be spaced at quite a distance therefrom. In ,t'his-event,the screws 16 and 17 project upwardly at a much greater distance than they would under normal conditions, and thus a canopy .of a much [longer collar could be accommodated. IShort collar canopies can be taken care of, to a very large extent, by seating the screws 16 and17 further in their screw-threaded orifices, and if it is desired to utilize a canopy with an extremely short neck, the "knock-out portion of the bridge is tapped with a hammer and the orifice in the bridge thus so enlarged that the bridge fits directly over the stud in the junction box, in which event, a .nut 29 is used to fasten the bridge to the junction box. The bridge also may be placed between the arms of the hickey strap,

7 or on either side thereof, which, obviously,

provides for many degrees of adjustment.

.outer ends of the strap being spaced outwardly from the housing to permit of adjustment .of the elongated screws which ,re-

ceive the canopy. Thus it is seen thatmy device is adaptable to practically any desirable adjustment for the securing of supporting means for lighting fixtures.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A support for lighting fixtures, comprising a U shaped metal strap to engage the stud of a junction box, with a screw-threaded orifice in the outer member thereof; a metal bridge with offset ends, there being screwthreaded orifices in each .of said ends; a knock-out plug in .thezcenter of said bridge, having screw-threaded orifices therein; a set screw to engage the screw-threaded orifice of the bridge and the screw-threaded orifice of the outer member of the metal hickey strap; elongated headed screws adapted to be seated in the screw-threaded orifices in the ends of the metal ,bridge; a lamp socket with longitudinal grooves to be engaged by the aforesaid elongated screws; a canopy having oppositely disposed keyhole slots to i receive the heads of theelongated screws; a glass shade to be seated over the end of the light socket, the lip thereof engaging the outer end of the canopy; a screw-threaded collar to engage the screw-threaded end of the socket, and having a flange to engage the inner surface of the glass shade and hold it in position on the canopy, substantially as shown and described.

2. A lighting fixture support, comprising a U shaped hickey strap to .be secured to the stud of the junction v box; a metal bridge with offset ends adapted to be secured to the hickey strap, and means to secure it thereto, there being screw-threaded orifices in the ends of said metal bridge; elongated screws to be received by the screw-threaded orifices in the metal bridge; a lamp socket to fit bewith means to secure said shade to the canopy.

3. A support for lighting fixtures, comprising a metal bridge with offset ends to be secured to the stud of the junction box and means to secure it thereto, there being screw-threaded orifices in the ofiset ends of said lug; elongated headed screws to be seated in said screw-threaded orifices; a lamp socket provided with longitudinal Y grooves to receive the aforesaid elongated screws; a canopy provided with keyhole slots to fit over the aforesaid bridge, the heads of the elongated screws projecting through the said slots; means whereby a slight turn of the canopy will seat the el0n gated screws in the narrow portion of the said slots; a glass shade to engage theend of the canopy and fit over the socket, and

means to hold the shade in position thereon.

OSCAR D. GUTH. 

